Indoor track: Bloomington North boys win Hoosier State Relays title for first time

The Bloomington North boys' track team was all in on going after a Hoosier State Relays title.

Led by incredible performances from Caelan D'Onofrio, Jack Holden, Caleb Winders, Jacob Mitchell and Jaidyn Johnson, the Cougars ended a long string of Indianapolis-area dominance in the event and did it, ironically enough, in their own backyard.

For years, the HSR was hosted at IU's Gladstein Center but was moved to the new Fall Creek Pavilion facility at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, where the Cougars had six podium finishes on Saturday to score 64 points and take the Large School title, topping Fishers (46) with North Central and Zionsville tying for third at 36. Bloomington South had eight points.

"Yes, outdoors, that's important, and we're going to get there," North coach Justin Helmer said. "These kids, a lot of them train all year, they train in the winter, so there's a lot of training going on anyway. The indoor season is fun, it's a tight atmosphere, and it gives them some opportunities to start competing after months of training.

"Do we put a ton on emphasis on it? No, just go compete, and when we found we were able to compete at this high a level, hey, let's go do something really cool for the kids, our school and the program."

The win, and the performances that got it, should give North a big boost heading outdoors.

North's relays score big

North's first win came in the 3,200 relay, where Caelan D'Onofrio got his team off to a 1:54.60 start and Holden (1:55.98) and Dominic D'Onofrio set up Winders for a 1:51.71 finish and a 7:43.08, a school indoor record and meet record, to win by 10 seconds. No team from the state has ever gone faster, and it's the top time in the country.

The Distance Medley Relay (1,200-400-800-1,600) was North's next conquest, and that group

The Distance Medley Relay (1,200-400-800-1,600) was North's next conquest, and that group

The Distance Medley Relay (1,200-400-800-1,600) was North's next conquest, and that group — Caelan D'Onofrio, Reed Pierce, Holden and Winders — broke the school record dating to 1981 with a 10:14.21, 3.25 seconds better than Noblesville.

Caelan D'Onofrio, Reed Pierce, Holden and Winders broke the school record dating to 1981 with a 10:14.21, 3.25 seconds better than Noblesville.

Pierce had a 51-second 400, and Holden had another 1:55 800 for a five-second lead, plenty of cushion for Winders to complete a 4:21.31 mile.

The 1,600 relay then secured the title with a fourth-place finish in 3:24.21, breaking the school record from 2017 behind Johnson, Caelan D'Onofrio, Holden and Winders, the last two breaking 51 and 50 seconds, respectively. Bloomington South's John Sobiech, Teagan Bullock, James Ryan and Josh Tait (48.88 finish) took fifth in 3:24.32.

North also saw Johnson break the indoor school record with a 6.75 only to be beaten to the finish in the final by .01 and a meet record 6.74 by Dominic Calhoun of Brownsburg. Taking fourth in the 3,200 with a nine-second career best 9:15.74 was Mitchell. The other medal spot went to Max Wynalda, who had a 52-7½ effort in the shot put for eighth.

"We were competing together for our team, and we got close as a team and excited for each other," Helmer said. "And putting down really good performances. We generated a whole lot of excitement going into the outdoor season."

North's 800 relay (Johnson, Joe Powell, Alan Hays, Kellen Bishop) went a season-best 1:31.95 for 10th, missing a podium finish (eighth) by just .05.

North also saw Caleb Webb take 18th (9:37.78) in the 3,200, while Edgewood's Jackson Klinger was 21st (9:50.26). South's DMR of Hunter Tabor, Julean Dusleag, Suoming Zhang and Joe Zinkan was 19th in 10:56.24 and sophomore Khlaiq Akou was 22nd in the 60 dash with a 7.11.

Lucas 3-peats in girls shot

The Large School girls competition saw North pick up two medals as Hadley Lucas had no problems winning the shot put title again while Dede Eberle was fifth in the 60 hurdles.

Lucas won the event for the third year in a row, and her first throw of 46 feet was good enough, but she went on to hit a 49-9¾ on her second (5 inches short of the meet record), one of two efforts over 49 feet.

Eberle went a PR of 8.99 in the finals but couldn't find the right spot on the board in the long jump, settling for 18th with a 16-6¾. South's Adriene Shaevitz was 19th in 9.70.

South just missed a medal in the 3,200 relay as Lexi Kollbaum, Grace Stringer and sisters Kate and Ellie Barada ran a 9:40.85. North's Nola Somers Glenn, Hayden McGuire, Katie Kent and Ellie Patrick were 12th at 9:47.39.

North's 1,600 relay was 19th in 4:11.48, Edgewood's DMR was 18th in 13:12.99 and South's 800 relay was 22nd (1:49.79). Edgewood's Hannah Crain ran an 11:40.27 for 21st in the 3,200.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North boys track wins first Hoosier State Relays title